Bryan Bickell‘s nightmarish campaign hit a low on Sunday, as he was dropped from the lineup in a 3-1 loss to Winnipeg and replaced by defenseman Michael Kostka — who played his first NHL game at forward.

Bickell, who signed a four-year, $16 million extension after his stellar Stanley Cup run, has struggled mightily under increased expectations. Missing 14 games with a knee injury hasn’t helped things but, even when healthy, Bickell has yet to find the form that saw him score nine goals and 17 points in 23 games last postseason, emerging as a key power forward en route to Chicago’s second Cup in four years.

The 27-year-old was minus-6 in 11 games prior to the Winnipeg contest, scoring just one goal. Quenneville had trimmed his minutes significantly, holding Bickell under 10 in each of Chicago’s last six games before finally dropping him in favor of Kostka on Sunday.

More what? Bickell’s stats to date indicates that he is maintaining his pace of 1G per 5.5 games, which he had prior to the shortened season. He’s behind in assists and PIM. If Q wants him to use his grit and body to create more scoring opportunities for his line mates, then that would make sense. Why would a smart guy like Q be asking for more goals from a player like Bickell? idk

Hawks need a lot more for a number of other guys besides Bickell. Handzus and Versteeg for starters. Both are having trouble keeping up.

Neither are making the kind of money Bickell is, but they’ve been ineffective for awhile now. As much as I like Steeger, once he enters the o-zone, he stops moving his feet. Handzus can’t move his feet.

slysipops - Jan 27, 2014 at 8:28 PM

aint that the truth ! way too many blind passes in their own d’zone leading to goals against or chaos of one type or another . VERSTTEG started out well but has stagnated lately for some reason .HANDZUS has always played like this…. short streaks of energy and then comes the coasting. i think the team rung the rag with him last playoffs ( short season maybe ? ) i wasn’t overjoyed to see him comeback this year….. i hope he makes me eat those words ! maybe the coaching staff needs to get away and rethink what and how the team is doing things .